Student Profile: Connor Mize, Class of 2014

February 17, 2014

Connor Mize credits his classes at Millsaps College with cultivating creativity and thought – all which will be useful when he owns a restaurant.

Mize, a senior from McComb, has nurtured his interest in the culinary arts while completing the requirements for a major in philosophy and a minor in economics. This semester, he works four days a week either during lunch or dinner with Tom Ramsey, a Jackson chef who owns La Finestra Italian restaurant in downtown Jackson.

Connor Mize

“I do a myriad of things including prepping and actually working the line during dinner service,” Mize said. “What I have learned ranges from basic knife skills and plating and aesthetics of food even to things like kitchen management.”

After graduation in May, Mize plans to work for a year in Jackson and then attend culinary school and “pursue a career as a chef with the ultimate goal of owning my own restaurant.”

Mize said he chose to attend Millsaps because it was a good fit. “Millsaps had everything I was looking for,” he said, noting the College’s intimate size and the ease in getting involved with groups on campus as well as projects off campus.

A resident assistant and a member of Kappa Sigma, Mize has played football at Millsaps and served on the Interfraternity Council. He has served his Kappa Sigma chapter at the executive level.

“There are many things that I call transformative here at Millsaps,” Mize said, “From great classes and supportive staff to long-lasting friends – and meeting the woman I am marrying this summer.

“Millsaps has cultivated creativity and free thinking in a way I doubt any other place might have,” he said. “The Millsaps experience is unique and supremely worthwhile.”